1,900 km with my Kia Sonet: Observations compared to a Fiat Punto Evo

Easy to find a good driving position in the Sonet, compared to the Punto which was always a struggle.

BHPian Sudhindra recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello Guys,

I took the delivery of my car (HTX AE 7DCT) on the 3rd Aug and the entire process went smooth. I have driven around 1,900 km so far with around 70% of them on the highway(including 200 km in the ghat section) and the rest are city drives. I even completed the first service. These are my observations so far in comparison with Fiat Punto Evo I sold to the dealer in an exchange.

1. Good Ergonomics and comfort- I could instantly find a comfortable driving position. Can reach all the controls easily. In Punto, it was always a struggle to find a good driving position.
2. Smooth performance and fast gear shifts- The engine doesn’t seem stressed out while doing high speeds. Gear shifts are fast and I got the right gears all the time. The paddle shifters were such a breeze to use in ghat sections. Did not struggle a bit on both highway and City nor felt tiredness after continuous driving. In Punto, I used to feel tired.
3. Good Visibility- Good all-around view. Didn’t feel any discomfort due to the dashboard display unit. In Punto, the thick A-pillar is used to create blind spots.
4. Good NVH and silent cabin. With Punto, there were various noises creeping inside the cabin.
5. Good space and roomy cabin. Never felt the interior space is cramped, enough for 4 adults. Folded the rear seat and laid a mattress so that my wife and my pet can relax comfortably( would have loved it if it had a flat floor). In Punto, this is not possible.
6. Good storage- Options to keep mobiles, wallets, handbags, water bottles, umbrellas etc.
7. Good Brakes – Does stop without any drama.
8. Good ground clearance- Never felt any issues while driving on broken roads.
9. Good AC- Cools the cabin pretty quickly.
10. Good Infotainment system. Didn`t find any issues with Apple car play.

Some discomfort I felt in comparison with Punto are:

1. Average Ride & Handling – While the top performance and pickup are good in Sonet, once I crossed the 100 km/h mark the drive doesn’t seem to be confidence-inspiring. I felt the steering was not weighing up as much as expected and required frequent adjustments. Above 120Kmph, I felt that the car responds abruptly to any minor steering inputs and needs a firm hand. I felt that this car is comfortable to drive near 100Kmph and not beyond that. In Punto, one will not even realize that it’s doing above 120Kmph unless he sees the speedo meter and can comfortably make high-speed turns on highways.
2. Average straight line stability – At high speeds above 100kmph, felt that drive can be a bit unnerving and needs some effort to keep the car in a straight line. In Punto, I used to have good confidence and the car never lost composure even while facing heavy cross winds, and rains.
3. Average LED headlights – They are decent for the straight lines but are really bad on winding roads and I found difficulty in cutting corners. The fog lights provided are pretty useless as well. The throw is not evenly spread.
4. The centre armrest is not positioned comfortably.
5. Front Seats should have had a bit more width.

Here’s what BHPian ashvek3141 had to say on the matter:

Congrats on your ride!!

I 100% concur with all your above observations. I have a month & a half old HTX D AT & just did a 500 km road trip. Your observations #1 & #2 are absolutely spot on. I did mention this in my post too. This car is best-driven sub 100-110 km/h, anything above that feels a bit unnerving. The OEM MRF Wanderers make matters even worse.

Somehow the steering isn’t helping the case and like you mentioned needs continuous correction. When I had TD’d this during the launch, I found it pretty compliant at high speeds. I fail to comprehend what is missing here!

And thank you for mentioning this, felt a bit relieved that it’s not just me who feels this about the car.

Another point if I may add, is when picking up speed between 30-40 km/h, you can feel a slight wobble in the car. If one notices carefully there’s a bit of sideways ‘giggle’ if I could call it. Not sure if anybody else has experienced the same.

Here’s what BHPian AbidIqbalShaik had to say on the matter:

It’s not just you who is experiencing the sideways vibrations. I have noticed it too. I have the Kia Sonet 1.5 CRDi VGT 6AT GTX Plus.

When I accelerate the car slightly harder than usual at a lower speed, there is a vibration in the car which makes you feel like something is vibrating sideways. Like, from the left to right and then right to left. The intensity of the vibration is not too low or too high.

Although I don’t know exactly what’s causing this issue, I think that the vibration is coming from the gearbox. The vibration almost feels like the oil is rotating (or going through fine holes) at high pressure. Sometimes it feels like the vibration when the clutch is slipping.

That being said, this vibration never made me worry if there is something wrong with the gearbox. I didn’t even bother to bring this to the attention of the service centre the last time I took the car for servicing. This vibration just didn’t seem like the one that could be a result of some problem. As funny as it sounds, I guess this is a “don’t worry, this is normal” kind of vibration. LOL.

Oh, just for your reference, my car has completed more than 5,700 kilometres so far.